Apps that have improved overtime

I’ve just started using Notion –on my Mac, iPhone and iPad –and I am loving it. It is allowing me to do a whole lot of things quickly and easily that I found hard and frustrating in Obsidian. I like obsidian, and now I also like notation, so I have two tools, and I am extra happy:-)

Here’s the thing: I didn’t use Notion for a long time because it was awful to use on the iPad when I first tried it, and that stop me using it then and for a long time afterwards.

First impressions linger, I guess.

Coincidentally, I am currently writing this using the Mac’s built-in Voice control dictation, which used to be horrible, half-arsed, and completely useless to me. Turns out that it now does a pretty good job. In fact I have typed most of this using my voice. And I’m really impressed with how good it has gotten now.

I’m glad I tried it again, because Apple has clearly been doing a lot of work to make it better.

So this got me wondering: are there any other apps for features that have drastically improved overtime, but I wouldn’t have noticed because I wasn’t using them?

(And, hopefully we will be having similar discussions about stage manager next year).

Has anyone else experience this?

  • edited to change notation to notion (a mistake caused by using dictation while sleepy)
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What’s Notation? I can’t find any mention of it.

I took a scroll through my applications. If you bounced off any of these in their early days, they might be worth revisiting: Agenda, Bike, Craft, Hook(mark), NetNewsWire (since early 5.0), Pixelmator Pro, Raycast, Sublime Merge.

Maybe the OP meant Notion?

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Oops. Notion. Doh! Doh!

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Correct!

And now I type more characters.

Obsidian would be a key example for me.

Some big improvements in the core functionality (especially Live Preview, and the refreshed UI) combined with a few must-have plugins (especially Omnisearch and TagFolder) have moved it from an app I tried and rejected early in its existence, to an essential part of my workflow.

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For me, Logseq. Revisiting it recently I found it was so much smoother in use, and a couple of plugins (like interstitial journaling) make it an ideal tool for me to journal, capture thoughts, outline written work and record meetings.

I now use it through the day.

I’ve poked around in Notion before but it’s never stuck. What are you using it for, if you’re willing to share?

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I stopped using it for awhile because it became a bit of overkill, plus I found spreadsheets could basically handle most of my needs. Recently I started a slew of new personal projects and quickly became overwhelmed w/ ideas and notes and tasks and I was pleasantly surprised to find out how many new features have been added to Notion! It is really helping me organize and plan things now.